Putin’s birthday marked by protests backing opposition leader Navalny

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 65th birthday was marked with protests in support of leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who is currently serving 20 days in jail for violating laws on public gatherings.

Unsanctioned rallies in Russia’s eastern-most cities drew only a few dozen people, while protests in Moscow gathered closer to 700 people, according to the Moscow Times.

Protestors called for Navalny, who was arrested Monday alongside his chief of staff Leonid Volkov, to be allowed to stand in the 2018 presidential election. Russian authorities claim the opposition leader is not eligible for public office due to a suspended jail sentence.

“Happy Birthday, you little thief!” read one of the posters held by a protester in the Russian capital.

Previous rallies held in support of Navalny in March and June were attended by several tens of thousands and led to mass arrests.

Others around the world has warmer greetings for Putin on his birthday, according to Russian news agency Ria Novosti, which ran a report highlighting graffiti in Paris and Barcelona wishing the Russian president a happy birthday and hailing him a “peacemaker.”

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Vishnou

Seen on a international News channel this morning: a demonstrator said people had had enough of Putin’s “feudal” system which ignores freedom of speech. As to the Russian state news agencies, they are anything but reliable.

Posted on 10/8/17 | 12:01 PM CET

Vishnou

It seems as if those who may care about what’s happening in Russia are on a Sunday retreat 🙂

Posted on 10/8/17 | 3:47 PM CET

Aio

Vishnou

Everyone just got tired of all this non-stop antrussian hysteria and takes no notice